Wild Peppers in Texas - Chile Pequin

Chile Pequin

There are several native edible plants that grow wild in central Texas. Texas is home to and part of the natural range of a wild chile pepper, Chile Pequín (Capsicum annuum var. glabriusculum) is a small and very hot pepper that is the mother of the majority of our cultivated varieties and bears fruit almost all year long when winter temperatures are moderate. It is quite tasty and easy to find. Known affectionately as “bird peppers”, they come up most anywhere birds have deposited the seeds, especially mockingbirds. You can also find dried ones for sale in many ethnic Latin American grocery stores and markets.

The most common uses are in salsa, soups, vinegars, beans, and pickled. They are used mainly for a liquid hot pepper. The green peppers are usually pickled in vinegar and the red ones are usually dried and crumbled for use as a seasoning.

The Pequín is the smallest of all chilies and is only about a third of an inch long and wide. Do not let its small size mislead you. They are extremely hot and have a Scoville Heat Unit rating of anywhere from 30,000 to 60,000 heat units. They also have a very complex and nutty flavor which may account for their popularity with birds. Just two of these small peppers smashed in a bowl of beans will get the party started!

There was a time when every South Texan had a bottle of chile pequins in vinegar sitting on the dinner table. The usual custom was to add vinegar as you used the pepper sauce. Later, when a new crop of chile pequins were available, you got rid of the old chiles and made a fresh batch.

Chile Pequin Liquid Sauce

Ingredients: (depending upon the size of your sauce bottle)

1/2 cup chile pequins

1/2 cup white vinegar

Directions:

Clean a previously used pepper sauce bottle with boiling water. Pack the chilies tightly in the bottle. Make sure they have been thoroughly rinsed and cleaned.

The next step is to heat some vinegar in a small pan over low heat until it just begins to steam. Pour your hot vinegar over the chiles to the top of the jar.

Allow the mixture to sit until cooled and wait for at least a day before using your sauce. The bottle can be refilled with vinegar several times.

You can get additional information here:

http://www.pequin.us/

Be aware. Be informed. Be prepared.

Riverwalker

Storage Recipes - Canning Butter

CANNING BUTTER

Jars of Canned Butter & Hamburger Rocks.

Now you can purchase canned butter from The Internet Grocer http://www.internet-grocer.net/butter.htm or make it yourself using the directions below.

1. Use any butter that is on sale. Lesser quality butter requires more shaking (see #5 below), but the results are the same as with the expensive brands.

2. Heat pint jars in a 250 degree oven for 20 minutes, without rings or seals. One pound of butter slightly more than fills one pint jar, so if you melt 11 pounds of butter, heat 12 pint jars. A roasting pan works well for holding the pint jars while in the oven.
3. While the jars are heating, melt butter slowly until it comes to a slow boil. Using a large spatula, stir the bottom of the pot often to keep the butter from scorching. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes at least: a good simmer time will lessen the amount of shaking required (see #5 below). Place the lids in a small pot and bring to a boil, leaving the lids in simmering water until needed.

4. Stirring the melted butter from the bottom to the top with a soup ladle or small pot with a handle, pour the melted butter carefully into heated jars through a canning jar funnel. Leave 3/4" of head space in the jar, which allows room for the shaking process.

5. Carefully wipe off the top of the jars, then get a hot lid from the simmering water, add the lid and ring and tighten securely. Lids will seal as they cool. Once a few lids "ping," shake while the jars are still warm, but cool enough to handle easily, because the butter will separate and become foamy on top and white on the bottom. In a few minutes, shake again, and repeat until the butter retains the same consistency throughout the jar.

6. At this point, while still slightly warm, put the jars into a refrigerator. While cooling and hardening, shake again, and the melted butter will then look like butter and become firm. This final shaking is very important! Check every 5 minutes and give the jars a little shake until they are hardened in the jar! Leave in the refrigerator for an hour.

7. Canned butter should store for 3 years or longer on a cool, dark shelf. [It does last a long time. We have just used up the last of the butter we canned in 1999, and it was fine after 5 years..] Canned butter does not "melt" again when opened, so it does not need to be refrigerated upon opening, provided it is used within a reasonable length of time.
A lovely glow seems to emanate from every jar. You will also be glowing with grateful satisfaction while placing this "sunshine in a jar" on your pantry shelves.

We have canned over 75 pints of butter in the past year. Miles loves it and will open a jar when I'm not looking! I buy butter on sale, then keep it frozen until I have enough for canning 2 or 3 batches of a dozen jars each.

Source: http://www.endtimesreport.com/canning_butter.html

Belwether Notes:

The most difficult part of the whole process is coming up with the necessary extra funds to purchase the 11#'s of butter all at one time. I already had the jars. I used "Land-O-Lakes" unsalted.

Keep the temperature as low as possible yet let it simmer so as not to scorch the butter.

Shake, Shake, Shake and Shake some more - Looks good and tastes just fine.


Take Care - Belwether